The Mercenary Queen Strikes Back (Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Hearing that nightmare–inducing voice, Harrison shuddered all over.

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How many years had it been? He couldn’t recall exactly. He only remembered that whenever this crisp female. voice sounded, it meant he was about to suffer. For him, it was a fear carved into his

Harrison looked up and saw a familiar face. His expression instantly froze. “It’s you.”

very soul.

Harrison always carried himself with authority, but now, his face turned pale with fright. He instinctively stepped back, looking as if he had seen a monster.

“It’s me. Long time no see. Seems you’ve been doing pretty well for yourself over the years,” Nova said with a faint smile.

Compared to Harrison’s panic, Nova’s presence didn’t diminish in the slightest. In fact, it subtly overpowered

his.

The special forces soldiers watching were completely dumbfounded by their exchange.

“Miss… You know Commander Marshall?” Edward asked, his voice trembling with shock and disbelief.

He remembered how he had been showing off earlier about his soldiers sniping from 2,500 feet away.

He thought with a wry smile, ‘I must have looked like a complete clown. Not only could Nova hit a target at 6,500 feet with an AMR–2, she actually knew the commander.’

Jordan explained, “Nova did know Commander Marshall. She asked me to come back and say hello to the commander. Since the school’s event is at The Greenwood, I thought it was on the way and brought her along.”

Suppressing his shock, Jordan voiced the question in everyone’s mind. “Commander Marshall… Was it really Nova who broke your left thumb?”

It had been just a guess before, but judging by Nova’s words, it was basically confirmed.

The other soldiers had long noticed the abnormality of Harrison’s left thumb–an injury like that definitely wasn’t from an ordinary accident.

Seeing Jordan brave enough to ask directly, they all stared wide–eyed at Harrison, waiting for an answer.

Harrison’s face flushed red, and he quickly fake–coughed a few times to hide his embarrassment. “Uh, well… It did have something to do with this lady.”

After all, he was now the commander of Sector X18. It was impossible for him to outright admit that his thumb had been broken by Nova. He could only give a vague answer to gloss over it.

But to the special forces soldiers, his vague answer amounted to confirmation. They immediately looked at Nova with admiration, wondering what kind of background this girl could possibly have.

Chapter 82

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In truth, even Harrison didn’t know Nova’s exact origins.

Back during the Apo Conflict in Xylem, just before he was sent undercover behind enemy lines, his superiors suddenly assigned a young girl to him and ordered him to fully cooperate with her.

That was three years ago. At the time, Harrison was deeply resentful. Being commanded by a teenage girl felt like an insult.

But during their infiltration of the enemy camp, his lack of cooperation nearly exposed them.

Harrison thought he was toast for sure. But to his shock, Nova, a teenage girl, would be totally hardcore like that.

To gain the enemy’s trust before the two of them almost blew their cover, she calmly broke his left thumb on the spot and held a gun to his temple as if to execute him.

The enemy leader saw how convincing the whole act was and stopped Nova.

Her decisive ruthlessness left Harrison with no doubt that if the enemy leader hadn’t stopped her, she would have really pulled the trigger. Even now, the memory sent a chill down his spine.

Though unclear about Nova’s true background, Harrison was certain that anyone valued so highly by his superiors was anything but ordinary.

Running into her here today was completely unexpected.

Facing his subordinates‘ curious stares, Harrison quickly put on a stern face and resumed his authoritative commander persona. “What are you all standing around for? No slacking off. Everyone, back to your posts. Resume training.”

The special forces soldiers, though still eager for more gossip, reluctantly returned to their duties, looking deflated.

“Jordan, take them around the area. I need to speak with Nova alone.” Harrison glanced at Felix and the other four standing nearby and instructed Jordan, clearly intending to send them away.

“Yes, sir!” Jordan saluted crisply, then turned to Felix’s group. “Come with me.”

Once the six of them were gone, Nova followed Harrison to a weapons storage warehouse.

“Did you come to see me for something specific?” Alone with her, Harrison’s tone softened noticeably. He no longer sounded like a strict commander addressing a subordinate, but spoke with a sense of mutual respect.

After all, in a way, Nova was his savior. During the Apo Conflict mission in enemy territory, if she hadn’t acted decisively, both of them would have lost their lives.

“Nothing major, just a small matter,” Nova said. “Help me get a few guns. I feel uneasy without weapons at hand.”

Harrison was a man of strong principles and naturally wouldn’t bend the rules for personal connections.

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He shook his head. “Sorry. The base has regulations. Unless you’re a member with a firearms license, weapons can not be issued.”

“Oh, I see.” Nova had already heard this from Jordan and wasn’t surprised. She responded leisurely but couldn’t help thinking, ‘Getting guns in Zoria is such a hassle–nothing like how easily available they are abroad.’

Still, this showed that Zoria was indeed a good place for ordinary people to live a stable life.

Although she was born in Zoria, she never had the chance to grow up safely here and was destined never to live an ordinary, peaceful life.

Nova raised her chin slightly, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes. She took the initiative to propose. “Then how about I join Sector X18, Commander Marshall?”

Harrison’s expression changed dramatically.

“What? Is it not allowed?” Nova asked, raising an eyebrow.

Harrison was surprised, thinking, ‘How could it not be allowed? Someone like her is exactly what we need.’

But the offer came so suddenly. He never expected that Nova would be willing to join Sector X18.

“We would greatly welcome an elite like you to join,” Harrison straightened his posture and spoke solemnly.

But then he showed a troubled expression. “As much as I’d like to have you in Sector X18, making an exception would violate regulations. I can’t do that.”

Harrison was an upright man. He continued, “But I can write you a recommendation letter. Next month, the base is forming a new action team. About thirty or forty people are competing, but only four will be selected.

“If you make it into the team, you’ll become a member of Sector X18, and your firearms license will be approved quickly. Are you interested in the competition?”

19:49 Tue, Jun 9